PV Drive South

Palos Verdes Drive South runs the Rancho Palos Verdes coastline past Terranea Resort, Trump National Golf Club and the Palos Verdes Nature Preserve. Homes sit above the water with cliffs and tide pools below, and the outlook from this stretch is as good as anything on the California coast.

It is also the most geologically active residential coastline in Los Angeles County, and that is not a detail to bury. It is the first thing an honest agent tells you about this road. CRMLS files it as area 169.

What is the Portuguese Bend landslide?

The Portuguese Bend landslide is an ancient, still-moving landslide complex that crosses Palos Verdes Drive South and the neighborhoods above and below it. It has been moving since the 1950s, and it moves measurably every week.

Land movement increased sharply from spring 2023, affecting Seaview, Portuguese Bend Beach Club and the Portuguese Bend Community Association. That period brought roadway damage, loss of utility service, and the red and yellow tagging of some homes. SoCalGas suspended gas service to the Portuguese Bend community, and Southern California Edison de-energized parts of the area.

Is the landslide still getting worse?

No. It has slowed substantially, and the numbers are public.

The City of Rancho Palos Verdes publishes survey data, and in its September 9, 2026 community update it reported that the average movement rate across areas still moving inside the active landslide boundary was 0.99 inches per week in early August, a 9.8 percent decrease from July. That is the first time the overall average has fallen below one inch per week since October 2023.

Broken out by slide, the City reported the Portuguese Bend Landslide decelerating 13.9 percent to 0.81 inches per week, and the Abalone Cove Landslide decelerating 7.7 percent to 1.29 inches per week. Klondike Canyon showed no measurable movement.

The figure that matters most for the long view: the City reports the Portuguese Bend Landslide has decelerated by 92 percent since the deep dewatering wells were installed two years ago, and roughly 74 percent of the landslide within its historical boundary is now moving less than one inch per week.

Will the power come back on?

That is the live question, and there is a published threshold to watch.

Southern California Edison has stated that a continued and sustained reduction in land movement near its electrical infrastructure to less than one inch per week would be necessary before it would consider re-energizing the Portuguese Bend area. As of the City’s September 2026 update, the average has crossed below that line for the first time in nearly two years, and City staff were coordinating a meeting with SCE to discuss re-energization.

That is a meaningful change in direction. It is not a restoration date, and nobody should treat it as one. Confirm the current utility status for any specific address directly with SoCalGas and SCE before relying on it.

What is the City actually doing about it?

Deep dewatering wells, which pull groundwater out of the slide plane, are the intervention behind the 92 percent deceleration. Water is what lubricates the slide, so removing it slows the movement.

Alongside that, Public Works runs an annual winterization program before the wet season: pond liner reset and welded in the most critical areas, outlet pipes cleaned and upgraded, sandbags replaced, and enhanced drainage along Palos Verdes Drive South itself to reduce the pumping needed when the road floods during storms. Rancho Palos Verdes was also named a candidate for a FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant of roughly $23.33 million toward slowing the slide.

The City maintains local emergency declarations in the landslide area and a temporary prohibition on bicycles, motorcycles and similar wheeled vehicles along roughly a two-mile stretch of Palos Verdes Drive South. Both are extended in 60-day increments, so check their current status rather than assuming.

Can you still buy here, and should you?

Yes, people buy and sell along Palos Verdes Drive South continuously, including inside the landslide area. What changes is how much diligence the purchase requires.

Not all of this coastline is equally affected. The slide complex covers specific mapped areas, and a property can sit on Palos Verdes Drive South well outside any active movement. Treating the whole road as one risk is as wrong as ignoring the risk entirely.

For any address on or near this stretch, establish four things early rather than late:

• Whether the parcel sits inside a mapped landslide area, and which one. Abalone Cove, Portuguese Bend and Klondike Canyon behave differently and are reported separately.
• Which abatement district applies, and what it assesses. These carry their own assessments and obligations.
• Current utility status for the specific address, confirmed with SoCalGas and SCE rather than inferred from the neighborhood.
• Insurance and lender treatment. This is the one that most often surprises people, and it is better understood before you are in contract than during.

Also confirm whether the property is in the Coastal Zone, which changes the permit path for any exterior work, and pull the current CAL FIRE hazard severity class.

None of this is a reason to walk away from the road. It is a reason to sequence the work properly, and all of it is answerable comfortably inside a normal contingency period.

What else is on this stretch?

Terranea Resort sits on the point at the western end, and Trump National Golf Club runs along the bluff. The Palos Verdes Nature Preserve carries the trail system that gives this coastline its public access, and Abalone Cove and the tide pools below are among the better places on the Los Angeles coast to spend an afternoon.

More on the wider city, including all ten of its MLS areas, on the Rancho Palos Verdes page.

Which schools serve Palos Verdes Drive South?

This stretch is served by the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District.

High school on the Peninsula is a choice rather than an assignment. The district states that students residing within its boundaries may choose to attend either Palos Verdes High School or Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, so there is no high school boundary to buy into.

Elementary and intermediate assignment is by address. One thing worth knowing, because it is the opposite of what a listing implies: an address is a strong indicator of assignment, not a guarantee. The district finalizes elementary placement through the enrollment process, and where a school of residence is impacted a student may be placed at the closest school with space. That is normal, manageable, and much easier to plan around in March than in August.

Attendance areas are set by the district and they change. Verify with the district rather than a listing, a map pin, or this page.

Who knows this coastline?

Chhabria Real Estate Company works the Palos Verdes Peninsula from an office inside it, on Yarmouth Road in Lunada Bay.

On Palos Verdes Drive South that proximity is not a talking point, it is the job. Knowing which mapped area a parcel falls in, which abatement district assesses it, how a particular bluff lot behaved through the last two heavy rain years, and what the utility status actually is this month rather than last year, is the difference between a clean escrow and a broken one.

If you are weighing a specific address here, we are glad to walk it with you, including the parts that do not photograph well.

Landslide figures above are from the City of Rancho Palos Verdes community update published September 9, 2026. The City publishes survey data regularly and these numbers change. Check the City’s Land Movement Updates page for current figures before relying on them.

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